Firework
by snakebit1995
Summary: You've seen this, fifth vault hunter, OC story, explosives. Contains: OC
1. Chapter 1

_Felt like doing something Borderlands related rummaging around in my head for a while since BL3 just got announced and I'm all salty about the Epic Games crap (Not buying it there) anyway on to the story_

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**NO POV**

An unsteady bus glided across the sands of the desert, kicking up dust in its wake. Inside were six people, one of whom was the driver a portly bearded man.

In the seats though were five passengers. The first was a black man named Roland in a tattered military uniform and armor, of the group he seemed the least inclined to say anything.

Not far from him was a red headed woman with tattoos named Lilith, a Siren a rare supernaturally powered woman. She had a thin body almost lanky body and was wearing tight pants and

Close by was a man named Mordecai, he was the shortest of the men but also the lankiest and thinnest. He had tan skin was wearing leather, complete with a facemask. There was also a strange bird on his shoulder.

Near the back was the largest of the men, Brick. He was brimming with size and muscles and looked like he could break a fence post like a small twig, he was wearing a fest and had hard metal plates attached to his fist.

The last was a man of average height a somewhat thicker build, his face was a little grey and withered despite the fact he wasn't much older than the others, he was wearing a blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a cigarette pack tucked on the right arm. His shirt and jeans were both sooty and dusty, he had a goatee beard and thin black hair that also had singe marks and split ends.

"Heh." He pulled out a lighter and placed a cigarette in his mouth "We there yet?"

"Asking again won't make it go faster Forman." Lilith said.

"The sooner we get there the sooner we can start looking and find the vault." He said.

"We find the vault and get rich." Mordecai said.

"See Mordy has the idea." Forman laughed.

"Hmm." Brick and Roland both grunted.

"Talkative and focused as always." Lilith rolled her eyes.

"I just don't see any reason to get worked up." Roland said "If we find it, we find it, getting their sooner won't really change that."

"Don't be alarmed." The group each heard the voice of a young woman in their head "I'm here to help you, guide you to the vault, get off the bus at the next stop and look for the happy little robot…I'll contact you again soon."

The voice slowly faded and everyone looked around.

"So that wasn't just me." Forman said.

"No…No it wasn't." Lilith said pulling the rope to signal for the next stop.

"You're seriously listening to that thing?" Roland asked.

"You got a better idea?" she shot him a look.

"No…" he said.

"Fyrestone Depot." The Bus pulled over "if you wanna get off now's your chance."

The five stepped off and as soon as the bus pulled away, they saw a small orange box shaped robot.

"I found the happy robot." Forman said lighting the cigarette he put in his mouth earlier "And it's a Claptrap."

"Hello Travelers!" it waved.

"What a great start." Mordecai said rolling his eyes.

"Come this way please." The robot pointed for them to follow.

* * *

**Forman's POV**

"Suppose we should follow it?" I asked.

"Well that's what that…Guardian Angel said to do." Lilith shrugged.

"No one else has a better idea might as well do it." Roland nodded taking out his assault rifle "Just in case."

Everyone else equipped up as well, Lilith with an SMG, Brick a Shotgun and Mordecai a sniper rifle.

"Hmm." I pulled out a revolver "Alright then, first step to riches."

None of us had known each other when we arrived on this hell planet, but when word spread about a Vault and people looking for it, we all ended up coming out to this desert dump together.

We followed the Claptrap over to a gate where it started pressing on buttons.

"You hear that?" Mordecai asked.

I looked over at a ridge and started hearing a loud wurring noise.

"Wait…is that…" Claptrap paused "Oh no…"

"What do you mean 'Oh no'?" Brick growled.

"Not again! RUNN!" The robot drove itself off and into a little hidey hole.

As the robot disappeared from view a convoy of buggies and trucks hit a ramp and zoomed overhead.

"That was close." Lilith said.

"Ehh they seemed to be out for a joy ride." I said taking a drag "You gonna open this door?"

"Oh right!" the robot rolled back out "Those bandits really have it out for us Claptraps. Being target Practice is not part of our programming."

"Guess we'll have trouble up ahead." I sighed.

"Annnnd Open!" Claptrap made the gate rise and drove through.

We all moved in quickly and got behind some rubble.

"Let's make this quick." Roland said.

"Sneaky?" Lilith asked.

"RAAAH!" Brick ran in and fired a shotgun blast at a gun, blowing him back.

"That's a no." I stood up and aimed, pulling the trigger and then resetting the hammer with my thumb.

A first fight quickly broke out between us and the bandits, bullets flying all over the damn place.

"HMM!" I help my gun with two hands to pull down the recoil as I drilled another bandit in the chest "This is taking too long."

"Right!" Roland reached down and threw out a turret, a small Scorpio turret that provided another flank and laid into the bandits.

At the same time Mordecai sent out his bird and had it distract the bandits with divebombs while the turret laid more fire. We moved into town and kept pushing the bandits back with gunfire.

"Reloading!" Roland yelled.

"Got it." I leaned around a post and popped a guy "Me too!"

I dumped out the remaining casings and took out a cylinder to reload.

"HAAA!" Lilith suddenly appeared between two bandits in a burst of energy knocking them back.

"Alright let's get this over with then." I said reaching back and grabbing a Frisbee like device that landed between the bandits as I pressed the trigger on the side of my lighter **"Remote Eruption!"**

The trigger beeped and the disc started shooting off explosive fireworks, sparklers shooting off and popping into small explosions and bursts of light that blew bandits away.

"That looks like all of them." I got up and spit my butt out.

"I knew you were the right choice." The voice said.

"Her again." I mumbled.

"Attention Citizen of Fyrestone!" Claptrap rolled up to a door "There is no cause for alarm, the visitors have resolved the problem."

"And here I was thinking I was a goner." A man's voice came of the communicator "Damn bandits don't know when to leave people alone I had to lock the place up, hang on I'll let you in."

The shutter on a building opened and we saw inside where there was a middle-aged man with surgical scrubs and a mask on, he seemed old and had grey in his hair and everything.

"Thanks for that." He said "Name's Zed, I don't do much cutting into folks since I lost my license so now, I just run the med vendors."

"Seems like you've got a bit of a bandit problem." Lilith laughed.

"You could say that, but pretty much everyone on Pandora does." The doctor explained "Nine-toes and his boys have been running all over the place causing a mess lately."

"We can take care of it on the way." Roland said.

"Really?" Zed scoffed "That'd be mighty helpful, a friend of mine TK Baha has a farm not far from here working on some stuff and might be able to help."

We all agreed to look into it on our way, the best way to hopefully find out about the vault was to get in good with the locals.

"Might as well get a move on." I said stepping outside and lighting up again.

"You don't waste any time." Lilith gave me a look.

"What I wasn't gonna light up in front of the doctor." I said "I got enough talks about the dangers when I was a kid, hasn't killed me yet."

She rolled her eyes so hard I thought she might pop a blood vessel. We didn't say much more on it but kept moving out until we found a lone little shack not too far from the main town, there was one man there with on leg sitting in a chair and as soon as we got close, he pulled out a shotgun and aimed right at us.

"Whoa!" everyone yelled.

"One more step and it'll be your last…HAHA You should have seen the looks on your faces." He laughed.

"So, should you." I looked at the dark tint on his goggles before leaning over to Brick "This guy's blind."

We spoke with the old man and he said he had set up some explosives that could get us into the gully where this Nine-Toes guy was hiding out so we set off without much trouble.

"Not a bad set up." I looked at the fuse and detonator.

"A blind guy made it." Mordecai noted.

"Yeah but he made it good." I inspected it closer "Looks like it'll work just fine."

Everyone gave me a look.

"Look I get not trusting the blind guy but I know my explosives." I blew out smoke "I once cobbled together an old car, I trashed vending machine and some old gun parts and made a rocket that flew five mils to obliterate a general store that overcharged me."

I got another look.

"Okay I embellished a little so what." I rolled my eyes "I've been making fireworks and explosives since I was a teenager trust me, I know what I'm doing and this thing will work."

I turned around and pressed the plunger down and sure enough the spark triggered and blew the barricade open.

"See nothing to be afraid of." I laughed and coughed "Let move."

We headed inside and moved through the canyon quickly dispatching bandits and finding their leader who was not happy to see us and quickly started an assault with two of his pet skags.

"HMM!" I stood up and fired two shots "Back off you over grown shit eater."

I rolled to the side as one of the Skags jumped at me.

"Heh!" I pulled a grenade off my belt and strapped it too the creature and threw it back to detonate, spraying a mess around.

"HAAA!" Lilith burst out of the other world and blew Nine-toes into one of his own decorative spikes.

"Well that takes care of that." I said as Brick finally stopped punching the other skag and we got back outside as the sky darkened "Well one day down, hopefully not many left."

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**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Vault Key

**Forman's POV**

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With Nine-toes out of the picture we could direct our efforts to getting more information about the vault. The first thing we did was repair the local Catch-A-Ride so we could get around a little easier.

"Killings a bunch of bandits is getting us nowhere." Mordecai said.

"Well you got a better idea?" I said.

"We go higher." Brick said.

"You mean like take out the boss?" Lilith asked.

"Hmm." He nodded.

"Well that'd be Sledge." Zed chimed in from across the street "Most of the other locals beat feet out of here when you guys got the Catch-A-Rise working, don't know how many would have made it past him though, there's a young guy at the crossroads not far from here named Shep, he might be able to get you into the mines Sledge is at."

"Seems like we at least have an idea where to go." I said.

"Then let's get going." Roland said without much more word.

We hopped into the runners we had, Lilith and Roland shared with her driving while the rest of us were relegated to one, me driving with Mordecai on the turret and Brick riding on the back.

"You know you're really throwing off the weight distribution on this thing." I told Brick.

"You wanna ride on the back?" he asked.

"Nah I'm good." I laughed taking a turn.

We stopped and found a young man named Shep who had an axe to grind with a bandit named Sledge and with some persuasion he let us take the key to the mines.

"Sledge is dangerous." He warned "I heard he's been digging for something too, just stay away from him, ever since he found that doodad, he's been on a warpath looking for more artifacts."

"We can handle it." Roland told him.

We hopped back in and drove off to the gate to the mines.

"Well this is easier than expected." I said as the gate rose up.

"Way to jinx it." Lilith laughed as we headed through "If this sledge guy has an artifact it could be related to the Vault."

"See looking into this paid off." I smiled.

We soon arrived at a mining operation teaming with bandits who all wanted us dead. So, we started moving through and clearing them out, gunfire ringing out and the smell of gunpowder drifting into the air.

"HMPH!" I ducked back behind a box as I threw my firework spinner out and let it start shooting off explosions "Up on that roof, Rocket Launcher!"

"I got it." Mordecai pulled out a sniper rifle and blew the bandit's head off before he could react.

"I'll take this." I said grabbing the launcher as it rolled off the roof "Good quality so…Fire!"

I pulled the trigger and shot off a rocket that blasted into the ground in a fiery blast.

"I could get use to this thing." I laughed moving it to my back.

"Why are there always so many?" Lilith asked shooting over a barricade without looking.

"This planet's full of old convicts from Dahl mining." Roland said "So when they pulled out and left them all behind, they went back to old habits."

"How kind of them." I said firing two shots with my pistol to take out a psycho on Brick's back "Take over an alien planet and turn tail and run when it doesn't go your way."

We pushed up more and got to the main building and kicked down the door to get inside. We moved through the mill and found the main room where Sledge was.

He was a big guy covered in a metal helmet and armor plates, in one hand he had a shotgun and the other a massive cobbled together sledge hammer.

"Sledge no like you, Sledge kill you now!" he yelled shooting at us.

"Nice to know we're making friends." Lilith laughed.

"Yeah we're the life of the party." Mordecai smirked leaning over the railing.

The three of us let off a blast of shots, most of which bounced off either his shield or his armor.

"That's gonna be a problem!" I yelled.

"RAAH!" Brick just ran in and grabbed Sledge's hammer before he could slam it down again and knocked him back.

Roland deployed his turret and we tried to get more shots in but nothing was making a dent.

"RAAH!" I let off a rocket shot but not even that was making enough of a difference.

"He can't hold up forever keep going." Roland said.

"Easier said than done I'm running out of bullets." I said throwing a grenade and my disc, setting off a chain of explosions.

"HMPH!" Mordecai aimed up and shot a chain that knocked an engine of some kind off the upper level, slamming it into the bandit.

"There went the shield!" Lilith yelled "Brick!"

"RAAAH!" the large man started punching him with a flurry of blows.

"There!" we all laid into his open chest with bullets, riddling him till he fell.

"I think we got him." Lilith panted.

"That was…rough." I immediately light a smoke and tossing Sledge's shotgun to Brick.

We took what we needed in terms of ammo, cash and weapons before we found a big trunk stuffed with cash.

"Looks important." Mordecai opened it.

Inside was a pile of money, and one strange triangle shaped purple tinted rock.

"I ain't ever seen anything like that." I said.

"…yeah…" Lilith rubbed her head.

"You alright?" Roland asked.

"Thanks for the concern, just a headache from all the gunshot's ringing out." She said picking it up "We should probably get back to Fyrestone and regroup, figure out what this thing is."

"The Vault is real." The voice suddenly appeared in the fog of our minds "What you have there is the key…or part of it, I knew you were the right choice."

"Her again, I wonder who she is." I tapped my cigarette out and placed it back in my mouth.

We started heading back, loading into the runners and driving off, we barely got back on the road before our Echos squeaked.

"This is Commandant Steele of the Atlas Corporation Crimson Lance." A gruff woman's voice said "I have been informed of your arrival in search of the vault and how within minutes you have started killing locals and causing a disturbance."

"That's what we're doing." I said making a turn.

"This planet is under the authority of the Atlas Corporation and any Eridian artifacts found here is Atlas property and any possession of such property carries a stiff penalty. Turn yourself in at once to the nearest Lance outpost and surrender any information or artifacts you have in possession; this is your only warning."

"Well she seems just peachy." I said.

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**LATER**

We got back to Fyrestone and decided to rest for a bit and figure out our next move.

"We really wanna trust some magic voice?" Roland asked.

"You have any better ideas?" Lilith said.

"No but…I think we need to be careful." He said.

"Hmm." I blew out smoke why I made a few adjustments on the Rocket Launcher I found.

"Zed said something about helping us get in touch with a woman who might know more about the Vault." Roland said "I'll go ask."

He left while I kept working.

"Should you be smoking around explosives?" Lilith asked

"I know how to be careful." I said looking at some ammo I got from the machine "I've only blown myself up a few times."

She took a step back "A few?"

"You know how to handle your fancy magic powers I know how to handle things that explode." I said "I'm just messing with the barrel not the ammo so there's no live powder…well not enough to be concerned about. I've had my share of run ins with getting maimed so I know when I can push my limits."

I spit out my butt.

"You work with this stuff for long?" she asked.

"Since I was a kid." I put it down "I appreciate the small talk but…nah."

"Huh, what you don't want friends?" she asked.

"That's not what I meant." I laughed "Never mind, mixed signals happen."

"Mixed…you thought?!" she laughed "NO!"

"I know." I smirked "Because I saw the way you looked at him."

I gestured to Roland.

"It's getting late might as well get some rest yeah, probably got a long drive tomorrow.

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	3. Chapter 3: New Haven

**Foreman's POV**

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After leaving Fyrestone and dealing with some road running bandits in cars we finally arrived in a place called New Haven, a rusted out junk town in the middle of a junk heap of twisted metal and trash.

"Zed said to meet with a woman named Helena Pierce." I grabbing a smoke off my sleeve "Damn last one."

"A nice little town, no bandits I wouldn't mind staying here for a bit." Lilith laughed.

"Hmm." I took a puff "I wouldn't call it nice myself."

"It's better than that last little place was, at least there's more than two people here." Mordecai said.

"Well hey there, you sure sound familiar have I met you before?" a man asked.

Looking over near the gat to town was a man behind a table covered in tools and grease, similar to himself in a way.

"I don't think so." I said.

"Ah well, my name's Scooter I run the Catch-A-Rides." he said.

"Oh we helped you fix that one outside of Fyrestone." I shook his hand.

"See I knew I knew you." He laughed "You sure did a good job, anytime you need anything just ask."

"Well we do need something actually." Roland said "We're looking for a woman named Pierce."

"Oh yeah Helena, she's just through there." Scooter pointed at a building.

We followed his directions and went into a small building and found a rather…torn up woman with a nasty facial scar, glass eye and robotic arm.

"Yikes-GAH" I groaned when Lilith elbowed me.

"I heard you might be coming." She said turning to face us but not looking happy "You've been making quite a fuss you know, drawing attention from unwanted figures."

"Popular is popular." Mordecai said.

"We're just looking for the vault." I said.

"I don't care, you shouldn't waste time with such childish dreaming." She glared a bit…I think it was hard to tell with her bad eye.

"Look you gonna help us or not?" I asked.

"I'm trying to keep this town from self destructing I don't have time to help people chasing fairy tales." She said "You can stay in town, but pull your own weight if you do."

We left defeated and without lead again.

"Well that was a waste." I sighed sitting on a barrel.

"What now?" Lilith asked.

"I don't know, wait and maybe get her to like us so she'll help?" Roland said.

"That could work, and then we'll find the Vault in another oh, five years or so." Mordecai said.

"Well that ain't an option." I said "We gotta figure something else out."

We all split up to do some work and such.

"Come on." I kicked a machine to get it to dispense the cigarette packs I just paid for, the metal thunking as the box fell out "There we go."

I walked back out and wandered around town for a bit looking for something to do.

"That Feeder is off." I said watching Scooter working on one of his cars "It won't load the rockets right, either it'll jam up or detonate in the chamber. Mind if I take a look?"

"Well I don't normally let anyone mess with my rides ever since my sister went and messed up that one runner." He said.

"I won't touch the car just the turret." I said climbing up.

I leaned over and moved some parts around.

"Can I borrow that screwdriver." I said.

Scooter handed the tool over and I removed a panel to see inside.

"There it is." I reached in and moved it over "There should run smoother now."

* * *

**LATER**

"Ugh a bed." Lilith laid down "We might be stuck here but at least we can relax."

"Can't complain about that." I yawned.

We were all relaxing in a little hovel we decided to stay in when the echo spurted to life with a public message.

"Listen up mud people." A woman said "This is Doctor Tannis, skipping the details that would make some of you drool in confusion I have concluded that the Vault is real."

At that we all leaned closer.

"In addition to that fact the Vault can likely only be opened once every two centuries." She explained "And that time will be soon."

"Wait it can't always be opened?" Roland said.

"If this thing really is a key, we need to find the other pieces." Mordecai said "And we need to hurry."

"That lady sounds like she knows what she's talking about." Brick nodded.

"Our magic friend hasn't said anything in a while." I scratched my head "But this Doctor lady seems like the only lead we've got; we should try and get in touch with her."

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**LATER**

Not wasting time, the next morning, we headed out, I don't think Helena was happy we were chasing after the Vault, I'm pretty sure she wanted up to stick around and do her menial labor, but we pressured her for Tannis location and she gave us coordinates for a dig site nearby.

"This is where she's supposed to be." I looked around the dig site.

It was layered and rocky, with large slabs of bizarrely patterned rocks, statues and arches.

"Creepy." Mordecai said.

"I don't know it's not that bad." Lilith said "It has…charm."

"You sure this woman is here?" Roland asked shooting a Spiderant "This place is infested."

"We better hope she's not dead then." I shrugged "Else we'll be at another dead end."

There was a little shack on a ridge nearby so we made a target for it and found a woman in side, not to old with short black hair and clothes meant for getting hands dirty, her room was cluttered with maps and books, torn up like a wind had ripped through.

"What are you doing here and what do you want?" She said.

"Are you Dr. Tannis?" Lilith asked "The one looking for the Vault."

"That's what they call me, that or crazy loon." She said before turning to a chair "Although he keeps calling me a bitch!"

"Crazy, Crazy, Crazy." I hummed lighting up.

"Don't blow such fumes in my office." She shoved me "You'll disturb everything."

"Clearly." I hummed.

"Now what do you want?" she asked.

"We were wondering if you knew what this was?" Lilith handed her the artifact we found "We heard it's a piece of a key to the Vault?"

"Incredible!" she picked it up "Indeed you simpletons have managed to find one, give it to me."

"Whoa now, finder keepers." Mordecai said.

"Look you want to find the Vault right, leave the key with me so I can do some research and we can find the Vault together, I used to have another piece you know."

"Used to?" Brick asked.

"Yes I turned it over to the one they call Crazy Earl along with some of my underwear." she said "I assume he still has it, go get it we'll need it and the other pieces to open the Vault at the right time."

She pushed us out and slammed the door.

"She's crazy." Roland said.

"Are we sure it's a good idea to let her watch the key?" Lilith asked "She might break it."

"She's an odd one." I commented "Crazy for sure, but hey some people like that."

"Oh like you." Mordecai smirked.

"Haha, she's not ugly, but she's a little loony." I said.

"You know what they say about crazy girls." He commented.

"That's enough of that." Lilith got back in her car "Let's find this scrapyard and the other piece."

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Second Piece

**Forman's POV**

After visiting the scrapyard to do a bunch of menial tasks we learned this crazy old man didn't even have the key anymore, it'd been stolen by a bandit named Krom.

"Can we hurry this up?!" I yelled "I'm taking turret fire here!"

"We're working on it!" Mordecai yelled from the back "Hurry up Brick!"

"RAAAH!" the man was punching his way through a horde of bandits while we provided cover fire.

"At least he's a natural at smashing." Lilith said throwing a grenade.

"Natural as destroying stuff." Roland said.

"So long as he gets the vault key fragment, I don't care what he does." I yelled over the turret fire before lifting up and firing a rocket off.

The smoke trail plumed behind the rocket as it slammed into the turret Krom was firing from knocking him back.

"Move up!" I yelled.

We scrambled forward while we had a reprieve from the fire and threw a few more bandits into the canyons as we went before getting in close.

"Eat my fist!" Brick delivered a few hard jabs into Krom's face, the bandit falling over in a lump.

"Well I say that'll do it." I walked up and started fiddling with a chest "This looks important."

I grunted and got the thing open, a stack of cash and a shiny purple stone triangle sitting in there with it.

"That makes two." I picked up the artifact "Let's get this thing to Tannis."

* * *

**LATER**

When we got to Tannis dig site no one wanted to deal with her.

"Fine I'll go in." I said holding the piece.

I walked up and pushed the door open.

"We found the second part." I told her blowing smoke out the left side of my mouth and using the right to hold my cigarette in place.

"Wonderful give it here now." She grabbed it "And put that blasted thing out I can already feel myself losing braincells."

"You know for a planet of crazy murders and psychos everyone sure has a bone to pick with a guy for smoking." I sighed "Speaking of what are you doing out here all alone?"

"My research is best done in peace, far from the idiots of New Haven." She said.

"Yeah but it can't be safe flying solo out here." I looked at her "A lady like yourself seems like easy pickings for bandits."

"I can manage without issue I assure you." She told me flatly "Now unless you have something important to here get out and go back to drinking mud water or whatever it is you simpletons do."

"Ouch that was rude, not everyone on this planet is stupid you know." I told her.

"Says the one covered in explosive residue." She hummed "I assure you I don't need any protection or assistance from you. Now leave I will contact you when I find the location or the next piece for retrieval."

"Alright then, see you again soon." I stepped out.

"Try not to die, it will make finding the vault most difficult." She said.

I stepped outside and sighed.

"So, how'd it go?" Lilith asked.

"She's a handful." I commented "She'll contact us with the location of the third piece soon."

* * *

**LATER**

We got back to New Haven and everyone decided to relax and catch their breath for a bit while we waited for the next location from Tannis.

"Hmm." I was sitting up on one of the roof areas leaning over a railing looking at the town.

New Haven really was a mess, a dump of a town in a dump of a place, still no one seemed all that upset about being here, they seemed happier to have a community and some sense of normalcy compared to the rest of Pandora. There were still bandits but in here it was like a little pocket of civilization…mostly.

Bounty hunters would pass through from time to time claiming dangerous bandits' heads and more.

"Hmm, that's a bounty hunter?" I looked down from the roof at a woman collecting a price on someone from Helena.

She was tall and slender with short black hair cut into a bob, her skin was a natural tan and her body was covered in what I would best describe as punk cowboy.

"I know a badass when I see one." I hummed blowing out smoke "Best to steer clear of her before she turns me over to Atlas for whatever they probably want to keep us off the vault."

"Hmm." The woman must have sensed my looking, she peered up at the roof with a smirk.

I gave her a joking wave and turned to leave, making a not to stay away from a woman like that.

"Awfully quick to run and hide."

"Christ!" I yelped seeing her cutting my way down off.

"_She moves quick." _

"Now why would someone go running off after simply lookin my way?" she asked.

"People pass each other on the street all the time, they don't stop to talk to every person." I told her dropping and stepping out my cigarette "Sorry I didn't know you were looking to strike up a conversation."

"I wasn't." she walked to the side "Just wanted to make sure I wasn't being stalked."

"That a problem you have a lot?" I asked.

"Most men know enough not to try anything with me." She said making a point to emphasis the pistol on her waist.

"I'll keep that in mind if I ever see you again." I said "Miss?"

"Nisha." She commented as I walked away.

"Nice name." I saluted and wandered off.

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Thrid Piece

**Foreman's POV**

* * *

"This place reeks worse than New Haven." I groaned as we arrived at the Trash Coast looking for the next key piece.

"I'm guessing it's called the Trash Coast for a reason." Mordecai coughed "Lets hurry up and find this piece and get out of here."

"REEE!" Bloodwing suddenly took off to scout from the air.

"Well at least for once we're not at a place crawling with bandits." I said "Instead it's crawling with Raak."

Raak, disgustingly annoying oversized bat like creatures that swoop down on you in swarms, thankfully they shriek like mad and you can defend yourself.

"You must prepare yourself." The Guardian Angel spoke "The next challenge might seem insurmountable but you can conquer it. You've come far and this last challenge will be your greatest."

"Well that was ominous." I sighed "Then again when isn't Angel like that."

Bloodwing soon started circling over an area so we headed that way.

"A clearing." Lilith walked out "That's sweet but I don't see it."

"Why would there be a clearing in the middle of all this junk?" Roland wondered.

"Maybe the key's buried?" Brick suggested.

"This is a lot of places to dig." I groaned "Hmm?"

"What?" Lilith asked.

"Did you just…feel the ground move?" I asked.

"I don't know maybe?" she said.

"Wait a sec." I held my hand up "Flat space…tremors…those flying urchins…"

"What?" Brick asked.

"Oh fuck." I looked to the side "Run now!"

I backed up as a small hill nearby started shifting bit by bit, rising from the earth.

"It's a fricken Raak Hive!" I yelled.

A massive beast bigger than a building slowly stood up from underground, the hideous butt ugly piece of crab flapping its gross looking vertical lips.

"BRRAAAAAAA!" it roared as Raak flew out of the holes in it's back.

"I think I see why the Angel said this would be a challenge." Mordecai said.

"The Key piece is probably passed here!" I yelled.

"How the hell are we supposed to get passed that?" Lilith yelled.

"Shot it…a lot." Roland said throwing down his turret and starting to lay down fire "If it bleeds we can kill it!"

We all split up as the monster started stomping around and trying to crush us.

"We just happen to show up when this thing woke up from a nap?" Mordecai was trying to get a shot in at one of the beasts four eyes "Don't they sleep for like years at a time?"

"Sorry haven't taken a biology class in a while!" I said shooting a few Raak swarming at Brick.

"It's not slowing down!" Lilith yelled laying into it with her machine gun "Someone do something!"

"Go big or go home I guess." I fell back from the fight "Cover me!"

I got out of range and started looking at the rocket launcher I had.

"Move this…where's that panel?" I turned it over "Come on…"

"Could you hurry it up?!" Lilith yelled.

"I'm going as fast as I can?" I moved some wiring to the side "Found it."

I pulled a few wires out and yanked a bulb out.

"Alright!" I ran back "GET DOWN!"

I held the launcher on my shoulder and aimed up as the beast got close, the vent on the side gushed heat as I pulled the trigger and blasted it in the side from a nearby ledge, blowing a massive hole in it, spattering carnage around.

"What the hell was that?!" Brick yelled as the beast keeled over.

"I overheated the cooling vent to supercharge the rocket and…ah what the hell's the point none of you understand this shit anyway." I shook my arm to get blood off "The fricken Launcher's fried and I'm covered in monster guts, the rest of you can find that stupid Key piece."

"Thanks for saving our lives." Lilith said.

"Yeah, yeah…I need a smoke."

* * *

**LATER**

"Here." I walked into the dig site "Another piece of the friggen key, this better be worth it in the end you know, this is a stupid amount of work."

"Ah yes of course it will." She took it "Hmm?"

"What they hell are you doing?" I asked as she leaned in and sniffed me.

"For once you don't reek of tobacco and tar." She commented.

"I'm covered in Raak Hive guts." I grumbled "Because I was trying to get the key piece, why wouldn't you warn us that thing was there."

"I was unaware of such, as you know I don't go out much yet alone deal with such manner of disgusting creatures." She said.

"Yeah, I can tell." I said "You're paler than the moon you need some sun."

"My melanin levels are fine." She huffed.

"Whatever you say, where's the next piece?" I asked.

"With a man named Baron Flynt, but to get to him you'll need a Claptrap with authorization for the Salt Flats, but that unit was captured in Old Haven." She said "A location full of Crimson Lance."

"Great…another gun fight." I sighed.

* * *

**LATER**

After gunning our way through Old Haven and rescuing one of those troublesome robots we went back to New Haven to restock before our next attack.

"This ought to get you through the tougher ballistic armor on those Lance." Marcus, the local gun shop owner and the guy who drove the bus we came in on, said.

"Hmm, I'm not usually a Vladof guy myself." I said "Got anything by Torgue?"

"I see you are a man who knows his quality." He pulled out a long white chambered launcher with a bulbous red end.

"Hell yeah see that's what I'm talking about." I looked at it "high quality ignition primer, flawless barrel shape…yeah this is the one I'll take it."

I paid up and headed out rekitted for the coming assault on Baron Flynt's digging machine. Tannis insisted this was the final piece, so once we had that we could open the Vault, I wondered what was inside, mountains of gold, weapons to set up a whole city to defend itself, something else just as bizarre or strange?

"I wonder what that crazy doctor will do once she gets to look inside?" I hummed "Hopefully when we open it up she'll be able to focus on something else, maybe start getting out of her little camp and **interacting** with the rest of the world again?"

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Final Piece

**Foreman's POV**

* * *

"Keep the wheels on the ground would ya!" Mordecai yelled.

"I'm trying, you wanna drive?!" I yelled taking a sharp turn.

We had made it to the Salt flats and were working on trying to get ourselves up into Baron Flynt's digger machine, Thor. The current problem was as soon as we arrived a patrol of bandits in Light Runners started chasing us down. Lilith and I split the cars up to try and get them going in different directions.

The heavy pumping of the machine gun was ringing in my ears as I pulled a hard slide around a curve so that the back wheels would knock the gate down and we could get inside.

"Let's go!" I jumped out of the driver's seat and quickly unholstered my pistol to get a few shots off.

"Nice timing!" Lilith pulled up and she and Roland jumped out while Brick started shooting at people up close and Mordecai stayed on the turret.

The five of us started laying siege to the lower half of the digger, trying to find an elevator up.

"Grenade out!" I threw a MIRV that detonated in a large cluster explosion "That was a big one!"

We quickly found an elevator and pulled the switch to go to the top level.

"We've come this far let's get the last piece and be done with it." Roland said.

"Then we take the key and find the Vault." Brick laughed.

"Yep." I lit up before we reached the top "Hmm."

"What?" Lilith asked.

"Well does anyone actually know where the Vault is?" I asked "Besides Tannis I guess but…the key why would there be four pieces?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well the other three all looked like wedges for a triangle so how can there be a fourth." I wondered.

"Maybe it holds them together?" Mordecai said.

"Who cares about geometry lets punch stuff and get the key." Brick grunted.

"Fair enough." I shrugged reloading.

The elevator came to a stop and the doors rose up as we walked out.

"I'm guessing that's him." I looked up at the man sitting under the big neon arrow.

A firefight quickly broke out between us and Flynt's men. Bullets and explosions flying and going off without hesitation, the digger groaning a bit as metal dented and dinged.

"That guy's got a sword where his hand should be!" Lilith yelled teleporting into existence near us.

"Jeez this place is a mess!" I yelled throwing out my explosion machine and letting it go off, knocking the largest two men back.

"HMPH!" Roland was aiming down his sights and dinging some shields off.

"Got it!" I leaned out and followed his bullets to get my shots in as well.

"RAAH!" Brick took a slash from the sword off his knuckle dusters and then headbutted the guy and threw a few good blows into his gut while.

"BANG!"

A loud shot rang out as Mordecai blasted Baron Flynt from his position back in the elevator. With the leader gone most of the bandits scattered and we moved up to grab out loot.

"You alright there big guy, you took a few cuts." I looked at the blood on his arm.

"Nothing I haven't lived through before." He said as I patched him up.

"You know how to do medical work to?" Lilith laughed.

"I know how to put on a bandage." I stomped out my butt "You get caught in enough explosive mishaps and you learn to triage."

I looked through the bandit's stuff, finding mostly crap weapons and nasty homemade cigarettes.

"I don't see any fancy looking stuff." Lilith said "Nothing like any of the other pieces."

"There's nothing here." Mordecai said.

"We're going back to Tannis, either Flynt moved the piece or it was never here." I sighed gritting my teeth "She better not have taken the key."

We hopped back in the elevator and headed downstairs and as soon as the door opened we saw a troop of Crimson Lance storming the compound.

"Shit." We quickly ducked behind cover.

"Lance?" Roland said.

"What the hell's going on?" Mordecai growled.

"I can't get in touch with anyone on the Echo." I said "The whole network is down."

"Listen up Criminals." A voice came through scrambled.

"It's that lady from before." Brick said.

"Steele." I nodded.

"There is no fourth key piece." She said Tannis has joined us and we are in possession of the completed key. She used you, and you've ignored my orders, leave this planet now and we won't pursue you, do yourself a favor and take it."

"I can't believe we were so stupid to just give up all the pieces without know how many we needed." Lilith groaned shooting at some of the lance.

"I'm going after them." I said shooting a rocket to knock over a barricade "I want answers from Tannis, and I earned that key!"

"There's no point in leaving after coming this far." Mordecai agreed.

"Then we're going to the base." Roland said "For answers and our rightful prize."

"You must hurry." The voice of the angle said "There's not much more time…the Lance are in for a surprise, Pandora is counting on you."

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Just a short chapter before the big Borderlands 1 finale sequence.**

**Till Next Time!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Vault

_Italics indicate thinking_

* * *

**Foreman's POV**

We wasted no time getting to the Crimson Lance depot nearby and laying siege to it, looking to get answers and our vault key. The enemy had far more efficient weaponry than we did, and greater numbers, but we had determination.

"HMPH!" I leaned around a corner and took a few shots from my revolver before throwing out my exploding disk to cover for Roland as he moved himself up to lay down a turret for more covering fire.

"You know if they had so many soldiers why not go find the key on their own!" Mordecai yelled "Why make us do all the work!"

"Talk about lazy!" Lilith warped back into existence in a fiery explosion.

We moved deeper into the base, systematically dispatching anything in our way and looking for clues to follow.

"Damn Roland you're sure into this." Brick said as the man reloaded.

"I'm sure you've got some previous employers you'd like to take out frustrations on." He said.

We all agreed, still we were here for Tannis and the vault key, so mowing down everything in sight was productive.

"Yes, hello angry people with guns!"

"There she is." I walked over.

Inside one of the cells in the depot was Tannis, looking mostly unharmed.

"You have a lot to answer for." I said.

"Let me punch her." Brick said cracking his knuckles.

"Please don't." she said "The world would become instantly dumber if you crushed my skull between those oversized meat claws."

"What was your problem, you sold us out and lost the vault key to that Steele lady." I said.

"No those were all her doing I most certainly did not betray you." She said.

"I don't believe you." I smiled.

"What does it even matter none of us will be opening any vaults in here without the key."

"She's useless." Lilith said.

"She has a point though arguing about this here does nothing, we need to catch up to Steele." I said.

"She better not open the Vault first I'll be pissed." Mordecai said as we left.

"We'll be back to deal with you later." I told Tannis.

* * *

**LATER**

After leaving Tannis we rebooted the Echo Network and got a track on Steele, quickly pushing through the Crimson Lance's dig site.

"They knew where the Vault was and still didn't bother getting the key themselves." Brick said slamming a guy's head into a rock "They really are lazy."

"We've established they're pretty lazy." I said reloading a rocket "Let's just get it over with."

We didn't have much farther to go, we climbed the last set of stairs in front of us and found Steele, a pale woman in a fur vest and pants standing near an altar with a troop f Crimson Lance near her.

"You failed to listen to Commandant Steele." She said looking back at us "I warned you many times, yet you persist, the contents of this vault are property of the Atlas corporation."

"I didn't know Atlas still thought they owned a whole planet that they do nothing to manage." I said.

"The Vault might belong to Atlas, but you belong to me." She glared as she held her hand out.

The three pieces of the Vault key were surrounded by a strange energy that combined to form them into a triangle cylinder shape. The key rose up and slid down into a slot on the alter, more energy radiating out.

The ground rumbled and pieces of the nearby rubble started levitating, constructing themselves into a large arch behind her.

"Ha the key works." She laughed a bit "Get the team ready it's time to claim what is ours-GAH!"

Before Steele could finish her sentence, a huge sharp tentacle shot out of the arch which was now gushing energy in a portal like manner. Gored by the tentacle she was thrown to the side as more shot out, slamming around her soldiers.

"What the hell is that?!" Lilith yelled.

A huge mass of Tentacles and eyes started trying to crawl out of the portal.

"I don't know but we should probably kill it!" Roland said.

"What do you mean probably we absolutely should!" I yelled.

"Do not give up, this creature is only immortal in its own realm." The Angel said "It can be killed if you know where to aim."

"Just shoot it!" Mordecai said ducking behind a pillar as tentacles flailed around.

"I like that idea." I said as the eye glowed and shot out a beam.

Everyone started laying into it as best they could, Roland laying down a turret to provide additional fire while Lilith slipped away with her invulnerability.

"HRAA!" Brick grabbed one of the tendrils as it tried to hit him, pulling exceptionally hard and tearing it off.

"Is it working?" I asked hurling a grenade over my shoulder as it exploded into ten smaller mini-grenades that burst on contact.

"RAAAAA!" the beast roared and flailed a little more.

"Sounds like we're getting somewhere." Lilith said.

We laid into that monster with a cacophony of explosions and bullets, sounds rocking and shaking the rubble as the beast tried pulling itself farther out of the portal.

"Hit it with everything you've got!" Roldan commanded.

"YAAAA!"

Everyone blasted it as hard as they could with rockets of machine gun fire, dark blood squirted out of various orifices of the beast, the eye spinning as the spiky maw roared, the portal snapping shut as the tentacles went limp.

"You did it, you opened the Vault." The Angel suddenly spoke "I'm sorry I didn't warn you about what was inside but it had to be this way for you to stop it, you've done well…That key won't open the Vault for another 200 years, but I'm sure your friend Tannis will pay you for it."

"Wait…that's it?!" Mordecai yelled "No treasure, no guns?!"

"No money!" I groaned.

"It was nothing but…ten ales and disappointment." Lilith sighed.

"I knew listening to that thing was a mistake." Roland said.

"Well…at least we got to kill something cool." Brick shrugged.

"Oh yeah thrilling." We all rolled our eyes.

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time.**


	8. Chapter 8: Digger

_Italics indicate thinking_

* * *

**Foreman's POV**

"Haa…" I sighed a bit blowing out smoke "It's quiet, and boring."

Ever since we opened the vault a few months ago little of interest was going on, well except the veins of weird purple minerals bursting out of the ground and the Hyperion corporation trying to move in and kick us out. To them we're just bandits in their way, but to the locals we opened a vault and that's at least something worth recognition.

"Alright where was I." I snuffed it out and picked up a wire "This goes here…then you plug that in over this way…"

I threw the bundle behind me and stepped back.

"Fire in the hole!" I yelled stepping on a plunger.

The bundle of rocks exploded outward and dust scattered the air.

"Still making a mess of this place huh?" Lilith said.

"What are you doing around here." I asked.

"Came to chat, that so wrong?" she asked.

"Never said it was." I smiled "I can make time from digging in the dirt for a friend."

"Sure, you don't wanna come back to New Haven?" she asked.

"I still come by." I said tapping out my cigarette "But come on…"

I looked over at the shack "If I leave her alone out here, she'll get in over her head with all that research and besides blowing stuff up is what I do, digging for that Eridium or whatever puts that to better use than hurling grenades at bandits."

After we opened the Vault we took the Key back to Tannis and with the Eridium popping up her research on the Vaults was more important than ever, but she still refused to go to New Haven so someone needed to make sure her and her camp didn't get attacked by all the various crazies and critters out here.

"I think you just like spending time with her." Lilith smiled.

"Well…I won't complain." I laughed a bit blowing out a bit of smoke "There's a charm to her crazy you know. So, what did you come out into these dusty ruins to see me about?"

"We got a call, a job." She said "Thought you might be interested."

"If it's opening up another alien fuck den than no." I told her "But since I know you would say the same, I'm guessing this is something actually interesting."

"Some Crimson Lance Assassin called about a weapons stockpile." She said "all she needs us to do is deal with some General sent here to take us out, did you see your wanted poster."

"Yeah Marcus mentioned it last time I was in town." I said "Well…where are we going?"

"T-Bone Junction." She said.

"Alright, let's do it." I said "I'll meet you guys when it's time."

"I'll let you know when we're ready to go." She said.

Lilith left and I got up and went over to the office where Tannis was.

"I take it you found something useful, or are you just here to spout useless drivel about dirt piles?" she asked.

"I'm gonna be going off for a few days to help the others with something." I said.

"Ah good peace and quiet." She smiled.

"I think you should go to New Haven while I'm gone." I told her.

"Preposterous all my research and samples are here, plus that place smells like rust and old dirt and not the good old dirt but like the gross wet kind." She said.

"I'm serious." I told her "There's been too much stuff going on, too many people looking around here I don't think it's safe for you to stay here by yourself."

"Utter nonsense, I require no protection, there is no threat." She said.

"What do you call those two guys I had to take out for trying to get through the barricade?" I asked.

"Nothing but a minor inconvenience." She said.

"You really get on my nerves sometimes you know that." I growled a bit "Fine stay here all by yourself what do I care if you get kidnapped by some lunatics who wanna eat your eyeballs or some corporate lacky who wants your research. I know you're off your rocker but some people actually try and fricken help you because they'll feel bad if your gone and the least you can do is give them something to calm their nerves."

"I assumed that was why you were a disgusting chain smoker." She said.

"You're fricken insufferable." I laughed a bit.

"I will be fine by myself; I can assure you of that." She looked at me "I would sooner die than give up my research to brainless idiots or masturbating corporate buffoons."

"Well I wouldn't have put it that way but I get the idea." I laughed "So want something for dinner?"

"Oh pizza." She nodded "With pineapple."

"Man, you are crazy."

"Well since you're still here logic would say you must be able to tolerate crazy, or enjoy it." She said.

"Ehh, I think everyone enjoys a little crazy." I smirked "You're just the right amount for me to handle."

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	9. Chapter 9: Impending Storm

_Italics indicate thinking_

* * *

**Foreman's POV**

I tagged along with Lilith and the others to go help them take down some Atlas military guy, General Knoxx. It was nice to just get back to blowing people up for a bit, and not have Tannis nagging me…still when we did go back to New Haven it was nice to be home. Still the planet just seems weird lately, I've noticed more and more Hyperion employees around, which is strange no one from the big corporations wants anything to do with Pandora, so why start scouting it out now.

Roland says we should keep an eye on them but I don't know what he expects us to do about it while he and Lilith take a damn vacation on the moon. Still it seems like there are a lot of people coming into New Haven

"Tannis." I called out when I got back to the dig site.

"What are you bothering me about this time?" she asked.

"I just wanted to let you know I was here." I sighed "You know if you just stayed in New Haven this wouldn't be an issue, I could take you out here every day and I wouldn't be "Surprising you" like you always say"

"Oh no it's not a surprise, it's just an obstacle to my research." She said "now do you need something or will you keep occupying time I could be using to research the Vault Key?"

"You haven't learned anything new about that for months." I said.

"On the contrary." She said smugly "It reacts with Eridium."

"That purple crystal stuff that popped up after the vault opened?" I asked.

"Precisely, it seems to be gathering energy from the nearby Eridium." She said "Fascinating."

"Well isn't that big brain of yours doing a good job." I laughed patting her head.

"Don't touch me…please." She said.

"…Sorry." I sighed "I know you're not big on personal relationships."

"I'm curious, why do you insist on staying here despite my insistence otherwise?" she asked.

"I just do…Like I said before I'd feel bad if you died out here all alone, someone should be looking after that big brain of yours." I smiled "You've never really tried to force me to leave, so I just assume you like my company."

"I suppose if I am forced into having company yours is not the most dreadful."

"How kind of ya." I said lighting up.

"I do wish you'd stop blowing that foul smog around though." She groaned a bit.

"Even you can't help me kick this." I laughed taking a seat "So you've been studying this Eridian stuff your whole life huh?"

"Why yes I have." She said "Originally I worked for Dahl but when early prospects for the vault came up fruitless, they abandoned us here, as far as I recall I am the only member of my research team remaining…ah well the rest of them were buffoons anyway."

"Harsh but direct." I said blowing smoke "I can respect that."

"You're not smarter than them." She said "I'd wager you've likely killed more braincells than they had."

"Thanks?" I laughed "So any thoughts about what's up with these Hyperion people showing up more often."

"They want to research the Eridium, they can't have it." She said "Who knows what those corporate stooges would do with it."

"I was thinking the same thing." I looked up at the sky "Pandora is changing, I can feel it."

"Your friends went to the moon, didn't they?" Tannis asked "There have been rumors of a Vault on Elpis for ages."

"Ever been yourself?" I asked.

She didn't answer she just looked at the moon.

"Me neither." I said "Moon looks good."

"I don't follow." She said.

"It's just nice to look at." I shrugged "That glowing fissure is something else, wonder what kind of explosion caused something like that."

"I'm afraid I don't follow, aesthetics serve no purpose." She said.

"It's always facts with you." I smiled "You gotta loosen up."

I put a hand on her shoulder and she visibly recoiled and made wrenching noise.

"Do not touch me please." She said.

"Sorry, you're not big on contact are you." I said "You're interesting."

"I am not, Eridian artifacts are interesting, someone who researches them is not interesting." She said.

"Hmph." I said "To you maybe, but to me, you're interesting."

"Is this…flirting?" she asked "If so…stop I think I might have a stroke."

I just laughed loudly.

"Now you laugh, are you sure you're not crazy?" she asked "Clearly there is something wrong with you."

"I'll say." I smiled "I'm hanging around with you and thinking about you a lot, spent all that time away dealing with that Crimson Lance stuff and I kept thinking 'boy I hope Tannis is okay, she better be eating and not staying up researching all night long', you hang around that vault key like a kid with a new toy…It's cute."

"Nothing about me is cute." She said.

"Again, to you maybe." I leaned close and teasingly blew smoke in her face "To me, it is."

"ACK!" she coughed and waved her hand around "You are…infuriatingly…infuriating. I despise talking to people, interactions make me nauseous, one time someone hello and I panicked so much a blood vessel burst! Yet…none of this happens when I am forced to interact with you."

"Guess I'm your lucky charm Patty." I said stepping out my bud.

"Luck is a concept for idiots and children…and especially idiot children."

"And you're certainly neither of those." I smiled "I'm sticking with you, like it or not."

"Not, very much not." She said.

I just laughed and then sighed.

"I'm serious though, I got a feeling change is coming to Pandora, I can feel it in my bones."

"Maybe you have radiation sickness." She blinked.

"_I need to stay with her, danger's coming, and I don't think someone like her will make it through without help"_

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**I got BL3 on steam last week and beat it the other day, so I decided to finally get back to this story.**

**Till Next Time!**


	10. Chapter 10: Tina

"Hmm." I sat in my workshop in New Haven messing with some explosives, lately it seems like they need them more and more I can barely keep up with orders.

Pandora is changing, and fast, in the last year or two Hyperion has stormed onto Pandora, attempting to "Civilize" it. In actuality it seems all they want is to monopolize the Eridium and do god knows what else with all the Eridian tech buried on this place. Most people have either gotten stomped out by Hyperion, or come to New Haven looking for a safe place from the bandits and bots trying to fight for turf.

Hyperion is no peaceful uplifter, Lilith said she and Roland ran into some of them on the moon and they were just a mess, apparently there was a vault up there and some guy wanted to open it really bad.

Now a days Roland is trying to unite civilized people and old lance members under the banner of the Crimson Raiders to help us fight back against Hyperion and the bandits, maybe make Pandora a decent place, not just a rotating door of bloodbaths and experiments.

"Hmm, maybe I should go check on Tannis." I said throwing another butt in my ash tray.

"Foreman." Roland came into my workshop "Got a second?"

"Yeah I guess, I'm not done with that thermite if that's what you mean, I know you wanna get into that Hyperion cache but it's gonna have to wait, I just don't have the materialize to make it efficient and not the size of a damn Runner." I said.

"I just got back from another raid with some of the men." He said "Hyperion experiment facility."

"Yeah heard about it from some of the guys." I said scratching my chin a bit, the slight scruff I was growing irritating me a bit.

I finally spun my chair around it, I was sitting cross legged, that's when I noticed Roland was standing there with some kid, she couldn't have been more than ten or so, short blond hair, dress charred up something fierce too.

"Who's the kid?" I asked pushing off my desk and rolling over to them.

"Found her at the facility, says her names Tina." He told me "I don't think she's got anyone else."

"I get ya." I looked at the kid "Well if she's banged up take her to Zed."

"She's fine, but I gotta run back out to secure the next facility, can you just keep an eye on her."

"Well I'm not a baby sitter, and this isn't really a place for a kid but hey, you're the boss boss-man." I laughed rolling back to my desk.

"Thanks."

Roland left and I went back to work.

"You talk?" I asked Tina.

"…no."

"Hmph, joking already huh?" I said as she leaned her head over to see what was on my desk.

"What'cha doing?" she asked.

"Building a bomb." I said flatly "It's not a toy so don't touch."

"Does that go there?" she asked one of her eyes drifting after the other moved "How's that do the boom thing?"

"_She's pretty banged up huh?" _I thought

"You ask a lot of questions, this is the fuse, when it runs out, boom." I said making a hand motion "Don't use these too much these days, everything is electronically triggered but sometimes the old-fashioned stuff gets the job done you know, cheaper too."

"Damn, cool." She said grabbing something.

"Whoa watch it, that's a live grenade kid!" I yelled "Can't just grab it like that you'll blow us both up, and I'm already above my self destruct limit for the month."

"PFFT!" she blew her tongue at me "Boring."

"You like this stuff?" I asked "You know I was about your age when I got into explosives myself, though I started with smaller crap like fire works I didn't go right for the big boys till I was like…thirteen."

I laughed a bit "Come here, I'll show you how to make some basic stuff, but these aren't toys you know, use these to hurt the bad guys, that's it you know."

"Yeah, bad guys, I get you." She nodded.

I went back to working on the rocket Roland was planning to use to breach a Hyperion blockade from a distance, Tina watched rather intently, her brain just absorbed this stuff like a sponge.

"Sorry I'm late." Roland eventually showed back up after the sun set "Was there any problems."

"Nah, kid was just fine." I said looking over at the girl who'd fallen asleep at the desk "This little firecracker's a natural with explosives though, bring her around again some time why don't ya."

I stepped out and took out my lighter "I'm surprised that she's so interested in them, seeing as she's covered in explosive backfire and soot…Roland what the hell happened to this kid?"

He told me when they found her wandering outside the facility, they went in to investigate and there was a massive hole blown into one of the walls, and a lot of dead people.

"Well she didn't make that escape bomb on her own." I told him putting a cigarette in my mouth and lighting it "This kid's had it rough, I can tell that much, whatever I ain't here to solve her fricken life's problems, if she wants to learn more of this stuff I can try and teach her, certainly can't help to have another pair of hands around making this stuff, I can't do it alone."

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Suggest what you want to see in the future.**

**Till Next Time!**


	11. Chapter 11: Fall

_Italics indicate thinking_

* * *

**Foreman's POV**

Things were quiet for a bit again, not too much issue with Hyperion but they were still pushing our buttons.

"Yo Boss!" Tina ran in "I got this new whatchamacallit thing built can we test it later?"

"Another test fire of one of your rockets huh?" I hummed snuffing out my cigarette in the ashtray "Yeah we can try after I finish these bombs for Roland."

"When are you gonna let me try of those." She whined reaching for my lighter.

"Never." I pulled a cigarette out of her mouth "This is a bad habit I shouldn't be doing it there's no way you can, if I ever catch you with one of these, you'll be the next training dummy for my new explosive formula got it?"

"Yes, sir bossman!" she saluted.

Tina had started opening up, but when she talks boy does she have a screw loose, she also insists on calling me boss for some reason.

As we got to work fine tuning some more explosives, I heard a lot of commotion outside, the lights flickered too.

"What the hell's the fuss?" I groaned "The generator on the fritz again?"

I opened the door of my workshop only to see Loader bots getting shot out of space and landing in town.

"Shit!" I hissed grabbing my shotgun.

"What's up?" Tina asked.

"Stay inside." I pushed her back in and locked the door "And get the big one ready!"

"The big one?! OH, CRAP WE NEED THE BIG ONE!"

I aimed my gun and blasted away a bot as more and more landed.

_Shit it's a full-on assault by Hyperion, they're not holding out any more._

"Foreman!" I saw Lilith land before me "Get to the center of town as fast as you can."

"I'm working on it!" I threw my exploding disc out as she teleported away again.

These annoying robots had tough body armor that made it hard to do a lot to them with normal bullets or even explosives since you could blow a leg clean off and they'd just keep crawling, an advantage to not having human fighters.

"Son of a bitch you little…" I hissed as one grabbed my ankle.

"RAHH!" Brick jumped off a nearby roof and stomped on one with his foot.

"Thanks for the help." I said spinning around and blasting another.

"They just keep coming." Brick said ripping the arm off one loader and swinging it like a bat.

"They probably stocked up for this attack." I hissed.

The two of us did our best to start cutting a path through the loaders only to get stopped by one of their commanders.

"I remember you." I said looking at a woman "You're that bounty hunter, Nisha."

"Nice to know I'm so memorable." She smirked a bit.

"She's working for Hyperion." Brick said cracking his knuckles "So we can just kill her right."

"Hmph." I laughed a bit "Fine by me!"

"Are you sure about that?" Nisha asked yanking a chain and dragging a dog out.

"Dusty!" Brick yelled.

"Now you're kidnapping dogs?" I glared "Wow, you suck."

"I'm doing more than dognapping." She smiled "HMPH!"

With a swift movement she reached down and snapped the dog's neck.

"DUSTY!"

"What the hell?!"

"Oops, my hand slipped." she laughed

Nisha quickly drew a pistol and blasted Brick a few times, knocking him back.

"Well that was a show." She laughed "His face got all twisted…his fault I hate dogs."

"Tsk." I hissed and lit up a cigarette "I certainly didn't expect that from someone like you but I ain't gonna let you do that do my friend."

I stared her down as my hand moved towards my waist a bit and grabbed the pistol I kept there.

"HMPH!" I pulled up and held down the trigger, the autofire letting loose with a hail of bullets.

***BANG! ***

"GAH!" I coughed as my side got blasted in the arm with a shot from Nisha's revolver and I fell down.

_She went right through my shield like it was nothing._

"Well this has been fun." She said walking up, boots rattling with each step "But you're gonna be in the way so I'mma kill you now."

"Heh." I picked my cigarette off the ground and put it to my lips taking a long drag and blowing out smoke "Well…I think it's time for us to scram Brick!"

"You can't even walk let along get away." Nisha laughed.

"But they can." Lilith suddenly appeared and grabbed both Brick and I "Sup."

She teleported us across to the center of town where Roland and Mordecai already were.

"Damn that hurt." I said tying off my shoulder wound "She's strong I'll give her that much."

"Most of the citizens have gotten outta town." Roland said "But us getting out of here…"

"No thinking like that now." I said "We gotta survive."

"I ain't dying here." Mordecai warned.

We all stood up and stared out into the smoke as Nisha walked up with a giant robotic cyborg.

"Wilhelm." Lilith hissed

"Tsk…well let's go all out!" I smiled aiming my pistol and letting off another burst fire.

"HMPH!" Wilhelm held an arm out to block my bullets "Useless."

"Oh, was it now?" I smiled as a disc rolled to his feet "Because it seems like it was a good distraction to me."

I pressed the trigger in my hand and let off a firework blast. Roland quickly got a turret set up for cover but it barely got a few shots off before Nisha sniped it with her revolver.

"HRAA!" Brick swung at her as she jumped back into a side swipe from Bloodwing.

"This is annoying!" she shot at the bird.

"Maybe that's the point." I shot back at her.

"DIE!" Wilhelm flew back in with a massive jump swinging his arms around and sending me flying.

_This guy's strong as hell!_

"Just kill them already." Nisha sighed.

"Initiating Rocket Barrage!"

Wilhelm let off a cascade or rockets but Lilith pulled us all close and teleported us away from the epicenter.

"Nice trick, but I've seen it before." Nisha slid to a stop "Showdown!"

"I can't teleport us again!" Lilith warned before taking a shot in the leg "AHH!"

"Lil!"

Wilhelm landed with another slam and threw Brick like a doll.

"GAH!" Mordecai and I yelled as the man slammed into us.

"Dammit." Roland hissed.

"This little resistance of yours was fun and all." Nisha smiled "But it's over."

She whistled to herself and walked up to Lilith "You're the one we're supposed to wipe out so…"

She fanned the hammer of her revolver and riddled Lilith with bullets.

"LILITH!"

"Dammit!" I growled "No one is dying!"

"To late." Wilhelm laughed.

"TINA!" I yelled "FIRE!"

"You got it boss!" She yelled from the roof of my workshop "Ohh you might wanna run we didn't test this one yet…but that only makes it more fun!"

She pulled a lever and a massive mortar launcher emerged from the roof and aimed for the center of down.

"BOOM BITCHES!" We both yelled as she fired it.

The mortar let off a blast of a few dozen rockets, the missiles zipping around the sky before arching towards the ground.

"Smoke bomb mode!" I threw my disc out and created a cover "We gotta go now or we're dying too!"

"I got one more in me!" Lilith grabbed up.

"Tina time to go!" I yelled as she jumped down.

"Right!" and landed.

"Phaseshift!" Lilith teleported us to one of the smaller cliffs near town.

"We're alive." Mordecai said.

"They're…fricken unstoppable." I panted looking down at the burning down with Wilhelm in the center deploying a shield "Dammit they lived."

"How'd they get passed the defenses?" Roland growled as I went over to start patching up Lilith a bit so she wouldn't bleed out.

"Figure it out later." I said "We need to get someplace safe."

"Fine, let's try Sanctuary, we've been stockpiling supplies there any way." Roland said.

"I'll meet you there." I told him "I need to get Tannis, if they're attacking New Haven it's not safe for her at the dig site."

* * *

**LATER**

"Yo Patty!" I yelled; she hates it when I call her that but right now, I need a little levity after what just happened.

I walked through the dig site calling for her but got no responses, as I got closer to her main shack I noticed something was wrong, the equipment was tossed all over, Tannis hates messes that she didn't make and she wouldn't make this kind of mess with her own research tools.

"Tannis!" I said getting my gun out and opening the door slowly "Tannis?"

I opened the door and saw obvious signs of a struggle; the whole room was ransacked and not only was Tannis gone but so were her notes and the Vault Key.

"Dammit!" I hissed punching the wall only to see a golden sheriff's badge left on the desk "That bitch…I'll kill her!"

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


	12. Chapter 12: Tannis

_Italics indicate thinking_

* * *

**Foreman's POV**

"Hmm." I fiddled with my lighter "Come on."

I was still in a sour mood, Tannis had been missing for a couple weeks now and I was on a personal mission to find her, Roland offered me help but I told him it would be best to let me handle this alone and if he needed any explosives Tina could handle it in my place.

"There we go." I got my cigarette lit "Now…where were we?"

"Let me go you bandit scum!" a Hyperion Engineer yelled thrashing around in the chair I had him pinned too.

"Hmph, no." I blew out smoke "So I suppose I'll ask again."

I looked over at him with a glare "Where's Tannis.'

"Like it'd tell you, kiss my ass-AHHH!"

"Wanna think about that a bit more?" I growled grinding my cigarette into his skin leaving a burn "Because I don't think you even tried!"

The man cursed under his breath as I stared him down. I told Roland to stay out of this because I knew he wouldn't approve of my aggressive method of dealing with this.

"So again." I said slapping the man on the head "Where is Tannis?"

This time the man was silent.

"I know you're not dead." I said rolling over a generator "Better hurry, I mean unless you don't care if you never have kids."

I tapped a few cables together to make them spark.

"Alright I'll tell you!" he cried out "She's in an outpost on the edge of the Dust! They're trying to get more information out of her!"

"See that wasn't so hard." I smiled dusting my shirt off "you were much more cooperative than the last two guys, so messy."

"Now let me go I told you what you wanted." He said.

"I never said I was letting you go." I glared wiping my hands off.

"What?"

I threw a ticking device at him as I left the shack.

"See ya, I'd stick around but I just cleaned up and I don't wanna make a mess all over myself again." I smiled closing the door.

"You psycho!" he yelled.

"Hmph, around here we're all a little crazy." I said hopping into a Runner and driving off "Wonder how long it'll take him to realize that's a fake?"

* * *

**LATER**

"Getting in shouldn't be hard." I looked down at the small complex they had Tannis in, nothing more than a couple of little Hyperion pop-up buildings. Scouting it out I only saw a small handful of workers, and no sign of Jack or his major players, either they were baiting me and that guy lied, or they got what they needed from Tannis and moved their resources elsewhere.

I decided to get to work, I slid down the cliff face and into the camp, walking right up to a guy and blasting him with a shotgun.

"It's one of the Vault Hunters!"

"Yeah that's me." I threw my exploding disk out and clicked the trigger setting off a chain blast that blew multiple men away and collapsed the wall of the main building.

I walked through the camp tossing out grenades and taking shots at any one in my path, laying waste around me with a heavy scent of gunpowder in the air. With most of them out of the way I kicked in the door of the holding area and found Tannis in a cell tied to a chair with some sort interrogator standing over her.

"GRR!" I growled "You crap stain!"

"Die Bandit!" the man ran at me with a knife.

I dodged his stab before punching him in the face. He recovered right away and stabbed down at me, I moved my head to avoid the blade before pulling back and headbutting him, quickly turning his wrist and pushing his own knife into his chest.

"Pain in the ass." I said pushing him off me "Tannis."

"Hngh…" she groaned half-conscious in the chair, her body covered in cuts and more.

"I'm sorry, I should have stopped them before they took you." I frowned.

"I'm…fine." She mumbled.

I cut her free of the chair and gave her a second to collect herself.

"Did you do this to her?" I walked up to the interrogator who was bleeding out very slowly, he'd probably make it if a medic got here soon enough.

He just smirked at me "Sure, it was easy to get her to scream-!"

***BANG! ***

I pulled out my pistol and emptied a whole clip into him, killing him.

"Come on." I went over and helped Tannis up, putting one of her arms around my shoulder to support her weight "Let's get out of here, we need to get you to Sanctuary. It'll be safe there."

"They killed him…" she mumbled "Phillipe…"

"Right, sorry I wasn't fast enough." I told her.

"Why did you come for me?" she asked.

"I've told you." I said getting her over to my Runner "I'd be sad if you died, I like you Tannis, I…care about you."

I smiled at her a bit.

"Tannis, even if you never understand how I feel." I looked at her "That's okay."

"I don't understand emotions." She frowned "But when I was there, I thought I was dying…"

* * *

**Earlier**

**NO POV**

"GAH!"

Tannis gritted her teeth as she felt a slash of a blade on her thigh.

"Why won't this bitch just talk." The Hyperion Interrogators grumbled.

"I know all she does is mumble useless crap about chairs and shit." The other said.

"I heard this bitch is crazy." The first said "Least that's what Miss Nisha and Jack said when they were here last time, all her notes are half nonsense."

Tannis' head fell forward, her body was losing a lot of blood, she's been getting tortured and cut over and over for the last two weeks and it was beginning to be too much for her. Yet she felt no sense of fear somehow, something else kept coming to mind.

"You should run." she coughed hearing noise outside "You might…still get away."

"I'm taking a look outside." The one said "Keep pushing her, if we don't get anything by the end of the day let's just kill her."

Tannis felt another gash get cut into her side but before a third could be made the interrogator was attacked.

"Tannis!"

"HNGH…" she looked up; her vision cloudy with exhaustion only to see a man turn away "Foreman…you…came…"

* * *

**Present**

**Foreman's POV**

"Thank you…for saving me." Tannis said softly.

"It's fine." I smiled at her.

"Like I said I do not really understand emotions but perhaps you could…teach me about them some time." She asked "If it's with you, I think I may be able to tolerate such…feelings."

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" I smiled "Cause I just wanna make sure we're on the same page here."

"I wish to try out the practice of courtship and romance…with you." She nodded "Are we in understanding?"

"Sure thing, Patty." I smirked.

"Must you call me such a ridiculous name." she huffed "I'll respond to Tannis, Doctor Tannis, even Patricia sometimes but never Patty."

We drove for a while before getting to Sanctuary. I helped her out of the car and towards the city, it was an old Dahl mining ship but it had a defense grid we could use, and space for refugees.

"Well it's now dig site but it's got it's charm." I smiled "Ready to head in?"

"Before that I must ask you something." She looked at me.

"A feelings and emotions question already?" I laughed.

"No, I will use all my research to help the Crimson Raiders, I will help you take down Hyperion and in exchange." She looked at me with a rare determination "Make Jack suffer."

I smirked "You didn't even have to ask."

"Very well than let's be going." Tannis nodded.

"Come along then." I said taking her hand.

"HNGH!" she coughed "Perhaps maybe you should let my hand go…I think I just threw up in my mouth a little."

"Guess that was a little rushed." I smiled "We'll take it slow and work up to more obvious displays of affection."

"Very well then." She nodded.

"Well whatever this 'experiment' is." I laughed "I look forward to trying it with you, darlin."

"Such nicknames." She sighed.

* * *

**AN**

**Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated. Feel free to message me any questions or concerns.**

**Till Next Time!**


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